LA Dreamin’
LA was awesome. Some of the good stuff:
The Getty. Amazing architecture, sweeping views and complex textures, from the handpicked leaf shapes and colors in the gardens, to the stonework and rock/water installation, plus the surrounding LA topography itself). And I loved that you took the tram from the parking area up to the Center itself. A great way to decompress all the visitors during their approach.
Disneyland. Love it or hate it, there’s a helluva lot of marketing, creative and logistical thought that goes into this place. Whether deciding how to best capitalize on the franchise du jour (the addition of Jack Sparrow to the Pirates ride is a great example), coordinating the big presentations like Fantasmic and the Dreams fireworks show, or working in all those little hidden gems like the Mickey plate arrangement in the Haunted House, or Walt’s private apartment above the Main Street firehouse (thanks to Andy for that tidbit), Disneyland is one special place.
Shopping. We’re not huge shoppers, but The Grove, with its mix of old (the Farmer’s Market) and new (H&M, Forever Fallapart and everything else) was nicely coordinated. Same goes for the Americana at Brand.
Food. From the little hole in the wall taqueria in Anaheim where we ate a hugely satisfying breakfast of chilaquiles, eggs and beans ($6), and pork tostada and chicken enchilada plus beans, rice and salad and horchata ($5.95) off styrofoam plates, to Roscoe’s Chicken ‘n Waffles, ridiculously cheap and tasty ramen and udon at Marukai, surprisingly good sushi at Matsuda and the jank-a-licious tourist trap Tiffy’s, eating in LA was a blast. Vacations are for eating woohoo!
The hoods. Like San Francisco’s network of communities, only much much larger, LA’s neighborhoods were fun to navigate through. Brentwood, Koreatown, Anaheim, Studio City… each one had a particular SoCal flavor. The warm weather and humid smogginess added a certain thickness to the air.
The highways. Call me nuts, but the highways were the picture of organization and efficiency during our visit. Breakdowns were tended to with great expediency, and the carpool lanes were awesome. Yeah, everything was about thirty miles away give or take, but the 405, the 5, the 101 and everything else was pretty speedy. Maybe we just got lucky.
Smog-enhanced sunsets. Artificially enhanced but great to look at.
The bad? Not too much really. The smog sucked - it was gross getting up in the morning and seeing those grimey gray skies. A lot of it dissipated by noon but it was still omnipresent.
The driving, while relatively jam-free, was something that would probably get old fast. We were mostly okay with it because you didn’t have any other choice.
With gas prices the way they are, I wonder how many people venture far beyond their immediate areas on a regular basis. There’s a lot to see and do in LA, but if you’re restricted by the cost of fuel it’s all moot.
All in all, my opinion of LA changed a lot during this trip. I used to think it was a place I’d never live, but I can’t say I feel the same way now. If anyone has a nice home in Laurel Canyon they’d like to gift us, please drop me a line!
